Mounted atop a Delta II rocket, the Mars rover Opportunity spacecraft blasted off from Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on July 7, 2003.

Written by

Todd Halvorson
| FLORIDA TODAY

NASA's long-lived Opportunity rover is approaching the 10th anniversary of its launch from Cape Canaveral and it just keeps going and going and going.

Next stop: "Solander Point," a north-facing slope on a Martian equatorial plain that enables the solar-powered rover to soak up sunlight and survive the impending southern hemisphere winter.

At the same time, this perfect vantage point will afford scientists with an enticing view of strata that should shed light on the geological history of ancient Mars environments that were warmer, wetter and more hospitable to life. ...